On The Edge. | Steve Rogers.

five.

"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor and Issac as well."

He and Coulson shared a glance, the older man giving him a rueful smile.

"Looks like it's time to get to work." He said as they began to pull themselves to their feet.

Issac sighed, shaking his head as he began hurrying towards the lab. He wasn't running, that would draw too much attention, but he walked at a brisk pace that showed he had places to be and was a wordless request that nobody stop to bother him.

"I'm on my way." He spoke into the comms before sending a mock salute to Coulson, disappearing down the corridor.

He entered just as the group had started arguing amongst each other, frowning slightly.

"Captain America's on threat watch?" Bruce asked incredulously.

"Yes he is, because he's America's first enhanced super soldier who survived being frozen for sixty six years, and came out perfectly fine. That doesn't sit well with a lot of people." Issac interjected, frowning at the group. "We're all just a few numbers on a very long list of people. How do you think S.H.I.E.L.D managed to pick and choose who they wanted to use for this project? While you may have certain characteristics that put you amongst the others, you're all still considered threats for various reasons."

"I'm sorry, how old are you exactly?" Tony's voice rose above the other branching arguments in the room, taking a step towards Issac. While he was only about an inch taller, he still used that to his advantage to look down on him ever so slightly. "Why don't you wait until you've stopped growing to talk all big and mighty?"

Issac narrowed his eyes at Tony almost menacingly.

"Age has nothing to do with my capabilities." He spoke through gritted teeth.

"And what makes you so great?" Steve's voice rose next as he eyed Tony. "Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off and what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony shrugged, looking away from Issac to face Steve.

As their argument began to escalate to the point of Steve urging Tony to suit up to test each other's strengths, Thor chuckled from his place off to the side and crossed his arms.

"You people are so petty, and tiny." He spoke condescendingly, as if he was above all of them.

Issac turned his gaze on Thor, dark eyes shifting until they were a bright, glowing blue. He had no idea why he felt the urge to send this guy right over the edge of the helicarrier, or why he was even so angry in the first place. All he knew is that he wanted to knock this bastard down a few pegs, and then some.

"I don't need to be made of two hundred pounds of muscle to kick your ass." Issac eyed him up and down, lips slowly curling upwards into a sly smirk. "You don't seem so tough. Just another pretty face, all bark and no bite."

Thor's eyes darkened considerably as he stepped forward, a few inches away from Issac.

"Watch what you say around me, little mortal."

"Or what?"

It was at that moment that Bruce's argument with Fury became more audible as the others began to quiet down around them. They both stopped momentarily, turning their gaze towards Bruce as he began opening up about  a dark moment in his past. It was less opening up and more just relaying information out of anger. All of their arguments went out the window however as something in Bruce changed and he shifted his arm slightly. Suddenly nobody was at anyone's throats, all eyes were on the man in front of them. 

"You wanna know my secret Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

The blue in Issac's eyes faded as he instinctively reached for the gun hidden in his jacket while Natasha and Fury reached for theirs as well.

"Dr. Banner," Steve spoke slowly, cautiously, even he and Tony were on guard now. "Put the scepter down." he frowned, eyebrows furrowed as his gaze shifted between the weapon in Bruce's hand and the man holding it. Even Bruce himself didn't realize he grabbed it, looking down at his hand with a strange expression.

The tense silence was interrupted by a loud beeping coming from the corner of the room. Issac didn't know what it was, but everyone else seemed to.

"Sorry kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all." Bruce mumbled as he placed the weapon aside, hurrying over to the monitor that had been tracking the tesseract thus far.

"You located the tesseract?" Natasha asked, following behind him.

"I could get there the fastest." Tony interjected.

Issac rubbed his temples, feeling a headache forming as he watched Tony and Steve begin to go at it again. They were so close, he was genuinely curious as to whether or not they would kiss in the next few seconds.

He was about to open his mouth to yell at them to shut up before something exploded from the vents below them,  literally.

The blast sent them all in several different directions. Bruce, himself, and Natasha were sent through the window and down to the industrial level below while the others were sent in various other directions across the lab. They landed harshly on one of the lower levels, Issac groaning quietly as he rolled onto his front. The bruises that were still healing weren't helping the situation, and just pushing himself off the ground brought stars and black spots to his vision. His ears were still ringing but he could vaguely make out Natasha's voice a few feet away trying to calm Bruce down. He'd been closer to the window so the blast must have pushed him further back than the other two.

He stumbled to his feet just as he heard it. It was a strange, guttural noise that could only belong to one other person in this area. He blinked a few times to clear his vision before glancing at Bruce and Natasha. Bruce was lying on his stomach, visibly fighting himself while Natasha struggled to pull her ankle loose from where it was caught between several heavy pipes.

Issac hurried forward, quickly lifting the pipes so she would be able to free her leg. They both looked up just in time to see the last bit of humanity leave Bruce's eyes before the Hulk completely took over.

"Can you run?" he asked. She was barely able to pull herself out, the two of them rolling away seconds before a large green fist came down on the spot they had been standing in.

"Do I really have a choice?" She asked, fighting the pain as they both pushed themselves up.

Issac put an arm around her and began hurrying in the opposite direction. Natasha was doing her best to keep up, but she had a visible limp that was slowing her down. At least they knew it wasn't broken, but it was probably sprained, or the bone was possibly bruised, it was hard to say. They didn't exactly have time to sit down and assess the injury right now. The rampaging green monster wasn't making it easy to get out of this alive.

Issac glanced over his shoulder, yelling out a curse before suddenly yanking Natasha away from the direction the Hulk swiped in. If he had been only two seconds slower, they both would have been pulverized on the spot. They hid behind a large crate, both keeping quiet as Issac gently lowered her onto the floor. He was prepared to talk on the Hulk by himself, or at least lead him away if he had to. 

In a flurry of blonde and silver, another force breezed past and suddenly sent the Hulk flying into a nearby wall. The only person who could match the Hulk in terms of brute physical strength was Thor, and he couldn't be more happy to see the cocky bastard. He took a moment to breathe, collapsing against the crate with Natasha at his side.

"Will you be okay?" He asked, pushing himself up after a moment's rest as he unholstered his gun and removed the safety.

Natasha nodded, silently gesturing for him to get out of here. He didn't argue, slipping onto the upper level until he was able to reach the main floor where everyone was rushing around in a full state of panic. He could hear Tony and Steve talking to each other through the comms, working on repairing the engine as Fury made his way back to the control room. Thor was somewhere dealing with the Hulk, hopefully he'd be able to knock him out or something, but that was none of his concern right now. Coulson was heading towards the detention level to make sure Loki didn't try anything, so that's where he would be heading.